Slowly
by Tywyllwch Prydferth
Summary: A oneshot for Valentine's Day. What will House do when he's confronted by something that knocks him speechless. I hate writing summaries...


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic, nor do I legally represent them in any way. I just like borrowing them for a bit...I promise to put them back where I found them once I've finished. Honest.**

**A/N: It's been a while since I've been on here. To cut a long story short I've had a lot of issues regarding my family, my degree and my health. Anyone who's reading my other fic **_**In Perfect Equilibrium**_** hopefully I'll be updating soon, just need to get back into the swing of things. **

**Also I've been useless at replying to my reviews, from now on I will try even harder to reply, I appreciate the time people leave in reading and leaving their comments on any of my fics. Just don't expect a sudden reply all the time, I'll try my best.**

**As for this fic, just a little idea I had to get out there for Valentine's Day. I hope I've kept everyone in character, I hate going OCC, but the second half may have slipped into that slightly. **

* * *

Valentine's day. House didn't know what it was about this specific day that made people so unbelievably dim-witted. Here he was, surrounded by apparently highly intelligent and sensible adults and each and every one of them had resorted back to their teenage self. Nurses stood at their stations wearing just that little bit more makeup and either looked like some sick puppy, blind hope leaking from their eyes, or had such an inane grin on their face House was sure their face was about to be split in half. And the men weren't much better. They were either walking down the hallways with an extra spring in their step practically shouting "I'm getting laid tonight" or they were lurking in the corners, knees trembling as they snuck looks at a particular nurse that had taken their fancy, willing themselves to ask them for that one drink after work.

Even his team had downgraded on the maturity chart. Kutner bringing in heart shaped biscuits, Taub frantically ordering flowers for his wife on his cell and Foreman and Thirteen exchanging looks that made House want heave. Of course, he brought them back to reality soon enough, ordering Thirteen and Kutner to the clinic and Taub and Foreman to run tests on their latest patient.

Walking into his office, shutting the door and drawing the blinds behind him, House was hoping for a quiet afternoon to himself. He only had a few more hours to block out the loved-up atmosphere and then he could go home back to reality. Moving towards his desk, his thoughts were cut short as his eyes caught glimpse of a small square package placed on his desk. Curiosity building up inside of him, he sat in his office chair, leaning back against the soft black leather and examined the package. It wasn't anything special, wrapped up in plain black paper with a small white tag taped to it. Flipping the tag over, he regarded the message that was shown.

_Because nobody should spend Valentine's Day alone..._

The writing was feminine, slightly loopy, handwriting he recognised immediately. Frowning, he picked up the package, taking in its size, weight, shape, wondering what was inside. His curiosity quickly got the better of him and he ripped off the paper, revealing a clear CD case encasing a plain CD. His brow furrowing into an even deeper frown, he opened the case and quickly glanced around even though he knew his blinds were drawn. There was just something about the whole situation that made House want to keep this very much to himself, especially as he was able to give a pretty good guess as to who this was from. Taking the CD, he placed it in the CD drive of his computer and waited for the contents to load. Subconsciously, his heartbeat had quickened slightly, before he shook his head and told himself he was being stupid. There was no way that Greg House was going to be sucked into the fluffy lovesick state that everyone else had so willingly fallen into.

A message popped up on the screen asking whether he wanted to view the slideshow. Glancing around once more, he clicked _yes_ and sat back to watch, his right hand hovering above the computer mouse in case someone came in.

The calming intro of Pink Floyd's _Shine on you Crazy Diamond_ trickled through the speakers and House couldn't help but inwardly smile at the choice of music. A picture appeared on the screen. It was the floors' Christmas party, his old team's first if he remembered rightly. Cameron, Chase and Foreman were all smiling at the camera and House was on the side, being nudged into the shot by a slightly merry Wilson. Though he refused to admit it, he had had fun that night, it had been one of the first times he got to see his team let go, be themselves away from the work atmosphere.

The next picture appeared, one that made House have to stifle back a laugh. It showed Wilson's forehead leaning on the table at the same party being more than a little drunk. House had previously added a little more vodka to the punch during the night to make things more interesting and Wilson had become his first victim. The next few pictures comprised of a few more group pictures at various events. Some included his old team, some his new team and some included a mixture but all brought back memories that almost made House smile. Almost. Kutner wearing that stupid Christmas hat, Chase's face after being stood up by a nurse at a fundraiser, Cuddy looking overly confident at the poker table at the charity fundraiser even though it was clear to House that he would win that hand, Wilson with Andi, the cancer patient House treated, Cuddy with her baby positively glowing...

The next picture however made House's breath catch. It was a photo of him and Cameron at the Monster Truck event. She had forced him to have a picture taken with her by Gravedigger and he had reluctantly accepted, but only because she promised cotton candy if he did so. He had no idea she had kept the thing. He looked almost at ease, and Cameron, well let's just say he hadn't seen her smile like that for some time. Before he could think further the slideshow had moved onto another picture of him with his ex-immunologist. It was taken at the first Christmas party again. She once again insisted on a photograph and gave Wilson the camera before he could refuse. The result was a photo of him trying to look miserable whilst Cameron smiled widely, her arm around his shoulders.

He sighed as the next picture made its appearance. It was a black and white photo, taken at the hospital, he assumed when they were treating that photographer woman, why she wanted to document her experience he had no idea. He hadn't seen this one; he guessed Cameron must have taken it before he had a chance to. It showed him and Cameron at the end of the bed, looking at the patients' chart. However, his eyes weren't on the file in Cameron's hands, they were on her face. The look in his eyes and the fact they were standing far too close for comfort was the reason for his exhale of breath. He didn't realise he looked at her like _that_.

Once again before he could contemplate it the slideshow moved onto the last picture, one House knew only too well. It was at the charity fundraiser again, he remembered a photographer going around and after glancing quickly at the prints as they made their way around for order requests at the hospital a few days later this one caught his eye. It showed Cameron leaning against a counter, the light catching her red dress just right as her gaze lingered on the piano in the background, the one he would be playing on hours later. He had come so close to ordering a copy but had quickly shaken the thought from his head, cursing himself for even considering it. Cameron it seemed didn't have such reservations.

Another sigh escaped his lips as the slideshow drew to an end. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Why did he feel he had been thrown into the deep end without any warning and no help in sight? The CD didn't ask for him to do anything, he knew it wasn't given with any strings attached, not asking for any commitment, not asking for anything in return, not asking for anything. It was just a gift, a gift that its sender was expecting him to think nothing of, to just forget. So why did he feel the complete opposite? One thing he knew for sure; he was screwed.

* * *

Cameron curled up on the sofa with her glass of wine, the flickering light of the TV reflecting off the glass making the red liquid inside glisten with a burning intensity. All day she couldn't wait to get back home. Against popular opinion, she wasn't a Valentine's Day person and as soon as her shift was over she had felt an overwhelming sense of relief to escape the craziness that had filled the ER. Now, at home, she finally felt able to relax, dressed in her pyjama bottoms and her favourite lazy day t-shirt, she settled down for a quiet night in. Wine, sofa, her favourite DVD playing, it couldn't get any better.

Apparently, it could get worse as a sharp knock interrupted her peaceful bliss. At first she considered just ignoring it, it couldn't be anyone important and turned up the volume on the TV but the knock came again, more forceful this time and Cameron couldn't mistake it. The sound of wood on wood, there was only one person who would knock like that. Pausing the DVD and placing her glass of wine next to the bottle on the coffee table she walked to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

"House? What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely confused as to why he was standing there. The man in front of her shifted his weight slightly, looking at the floor before looking back at his ex-employee.

"Like you said," he started, his voice unusually quiet and more gravelly than usual, "nobody should spend Valentine's Day alone"

Cameron's eyes widen slightly in surprise "How did you..."

"Know you would be alone?" House interrupted her question. "The wombat's been moping around for weeks; he's practically shouting "I've been dumped." I'm not the world's leading diagnostician for nothing you know. You gonna let me in?"

"Uh...yeah...sure" Cameron replied, stepping aside to let him in, trying to shake away the surprise this man continuously managed to create. Closing the door behind her, she turned to see that he had made himself at home on her sofa. "Do you want a glass?" she asked, nodding her head towards the half empty bottle of wine on the table in front of him.

"Sure" House replied, hearing her walk into the kitchen. He still didn't know exactly why he was here; it was almost as if his body had acted on impulse, ignoring the pitiful protests from his brain. The feeling of the sofa dipping beside him and the sound of a glass being placed on the table pulled House out of his thoughts and he gratefully took the glass from the table, taking a sip of the deep red crimson liquid.

"Die Hard?" he asked, looking at the frozen image on the TV, still the only light in the room.

"And that surprises you why?" Cameron replied with a question of her own, raising her eyebrow slightly.

House shrugged. "Would've thought that today of all days you'd be watching some cheesy girly flick"

Cameron rolled her eyes, a small smile gracing her elegant features. "What could beat watching Bruce Willis in action?" she answered.

"Well, I could think of a few things...Angelina Jolie riding me to oblivion, Cuddy telling me that I never have to do clinic again..."

"House, why are you here? I'm guessing you have a reason, you aren't exactly known for your social visits." Cameron asked, interrupting House's musings. He sighed, knowing the question was going to come soon enough. Looking down at his hands he tried to formulate an answer inside his head.

"The CD..." he started before stopping as he heard a sigh beside him.

"House, there wasn't any hidden incentive behind that. I don't expect anything from you, I just made it to try and make you realise that despite how much you think it, you're not alone in this world." Cameron said before sighing again. "Look, it was a stupid idea ok, I should've known better, so if you're here to berate and tease me about it then you can leave right now."

"No" House shook his head "I know I could've chucked the thing away and you wouldn't think twice about it, hell I could've even not opened it and I doubt you would be surprised. The thing is...I can't do that, I can't just not think about it, I even watched it again when I got home." House paused, his eyes still firmly on his hands. "Fuck, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't do this sort of conversation. I'm an ass Cameron, a complete heartless bastard, but those pictures, that damn slideshow, I think...I think I'm starting to realise what you saw all those years ago."

Cameron stared at him, taken aback by his admission. Shaking herself out of her amazement, she knew that her silence wasn't making House feel any easier and right now the last thing she wanted was him to freak out and leave, not when she was so close in getting him to understand. "What I still see" she corrected his last sentence, her voice barely above a whisper. "It isn't hard to show what's already there, no matter how deep down it's hidden, or how many scars it lies behind" she added, her hand moving to rest on his, both on top of his marred thigh. House looked up at her, taking in her appearance, her baggy clothes, her hair loosely tied back. She looked...perfect. So exposed, nothing to hide behind, just plain and simple beauty. Her eyes slightly hardened by years of hurt and torment, the faint darkness that framed them showed restless nights, past nightmares that still haunted her. He realised that she let few people see this side of her, the true her, just as he did. Cameron began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, starting to think that she had gone too far. She was about to apologise before House's voice cut across the silence.

"Kangaroo boy couldn't cope with the pace?" He asked.

Cameron nodded her head "He was getting cranky about how distant I was with him, thought by now I could trust him. Gave me an ultimatum, said either I replicated the commitment he gave me and let him in or I cut and run. Obviously I did what anyone would do when backed into a corner about their feelings; I cut and run." She answered with a smile. House couldn't help but imitate her smile as he knew what she was implying. "He came over a week or so ago" Cameron continued "said he was willing to take things slow again and try to understand, said he knew things were hard for me after my husband. He doesn't know anything" she shook her head, sighing.

"I understand" House said quietly.

"I know" Cameron replied just as quietly, their eyes now locked together, matching each other in passion and intensity.

"We go slow" House stated.

"We go slow" Cameron agreed.

It was only then that House's head became in sync with the rest of his body and let himself accept the agreement they had come to. It was only then that House let himself lean in and press his lips against hers. It was only then that House, for once, didn't feel so alone.

FIN.


End file.
